Puppy Love
by BLiberalQuestionAuthority
Summary: One Shot: Usagi and Mamoru come to understand each other a little bit better after Usagi deals with a situation of puppy love and split ice cream


It was the perfect day outside, sunny and mild. The kind of weather where a sweatshirt and jeans can be just as comfortable as a shirt and shorts. Motoki had the windows of the arcade open and the doors programed to never shut, in order to let the lovely weather in. The arcade was packed to capacity, the lunch hour crowd milling around content with a gorgeous spring Saturday, eating their burgers, milkshakes and sundays before getting ready to head out to continue their day of play. Everything was picture perfect, the kind of thing you'd see in a movie.

The only people who could possibly be grumpy on a day like this were Usagi and Mamoru. They had come in at the same time that day, a little before noon, both carrying school textbooks (something quite un-Usagi like, and this caused a few double takes by Mamoru, Motoki, and even the other patrons), and found the arcade packed to capacity. Motoki had seen them, and secured a table. And there lay the problem. Mortal enemies Usagi and Mamoru were being forced to share a table because of how crowded the arcade was.

Both Mamoru's and Usagi's heads were buried in their respective textbooks, Mamoru's in his thermodynamics book, and Usagi's focused on Shakespeare's sonnets. Motoki strolled up to his friends and two favorite patrons.

"Hey you guys! Why on earth are the two of you studying? I mean, it's a Saturday, and it's gorgeous outside!Not that I'm not happy to see you studying, Usagi, I just mean that this is usually a Mamoru thing, one that I've been trying to break him of," he chuckled. Usagi looked up at her blonde friend.

"Motoki, I get the teasing about studying from this one," she gestured to Mamoru, "all the time, so lay off, ok? It's just that I've got finals next week, and I just need to understand this stuff. And hey, I do too study! I've been very good about it since I started high school, and that was two years ago! I mean, come on, 'Toki, catch up!" she sounded exasperated.

"I know, I know." he held up his hands in defense. Who knew she'd be so grouchy today? Least Mamoru hadn't put in his two cents yet. " Anyways, what can I get you two?" he resumed, and pulled out his pad and pen.

"Just a coke," Usagi said, her head buried back into her book, her tongue sticking out cutely from the side of her mouth. Mamoru finally looked up at his friend from the other side of the table.

"Well, if I'm going to have to sit here with Odango, I'm going to need a big cup of coffee, and probably a burger, too. I'll need my strength." Usagi lifted her eyes from her book and gave him a quick dirty look.

"Sounds good guys. But Usagi, you sure you only want a coke? I've got a great batch of burgers and chili fries that'll be done soon." Usagi just shook her head.

"No thanks, hun. I've just got to read. The coke's simply for caffeine. I'd take coffee, but I've just started drinking it, so I can only tolerate those really sweet ones with caramel and stuff, so far." Both men's eyes went large.

"You've started drinking coffee?" Mamoru asked, a little wary and a little worried about the blonde.

"Yah, cause of studying. I mean, I don't get a whole lot of sleep these days, so I need caffeine to keep up with everything." She shrugged, and went back to her work, clicking her retractable highlighter into the writing position, and going at the sonnets with serious intent. The two men looked at each other, wondering where their bubbly Usagi had gone to over the past two years, as she slowly disappeared and was absorbed by this new, more responsible one. Not a bad change, of course, but they did wish she would laugh a little more, like she used to. They shrugged, and Motoki ran off to place their orders, and deal with his crazy lunch hour crowd.

Mamoru and Usagi sat there for over 2 and a half hours, sitting quietly together in the snug little booth. Even when the crowd calmed down and seats began to open up, they stayed together, each studying intently and secretly absorbing the presence of each other. The table was now covered in papers, books, and other school supplies. Their comfortable studying truce was suddenly broken by a high pitched exasperated squeal. The two jumped, and turned to look at the commotion, that, for once, they were not creating.

Across the arcade a group of 7 children were sitting around a table with a woman who must have been their daycare provider, all eating ice cream that Motoki and brought for them. But two of the children had ceased eating, and were glaring at each other. Both looking to be about 5 years old, the little boy's red hair was shocking when compared to his dark blue overalls which matched his smirking eyes. The little girl, her curly black hair up in pigtails, wore a red dress that complimented her green eyes. The only problem with her ensemble was the smudge of vanilla ice cream that was sliding down the front, which had come from the little boy's ice cream cone. The screech must have come when he had committed the horrible crime of messing up her dress. The caretaker got up and began to scold the boy, picking him up to put him in the corner for punishment, completely ignoring the little girl, who dashed over to the booth where Usagi and Mamoru were sitting, with tears leaking from her evergreen eyes.

"Usagi-san!" She cried, pointing "Kento spilled on me on purpose!" She pointed to the ruined dress, and sniffled. Usagi let out a sigh, but smiled at her. She quickly pushed aside her books onto Mamoru's side of the table, and picked up the little girl, sitting her in front of her, in the spot that her book had just vacated.

"Mika," she said calmly, smiling lovingly at the girl as she took some napkins out of the shiny silver dispenser, dipped it in her glass of water that Motoki had just refilled, and began to dab at the ice cream spot, "why does Kento bother you so much? Whenever I come over to babysit for you and your brother, you spend so much time complaining about him. If he's so annoying, and does things like this so often, why don't you stand up to him?" She handed Mika her coke to keep her occupied as she worked on the dress, now dabbing away the wetness with a dry napkin.

Mamoru just looked onto this scene with fascination. He had always known Usagi to be sweet, but this kind and almost mother-like Usagi was new to him. And he couldn't help but watch her, calmly and intently dealing with the trivial problems of a 5 year old as if they held the importance of a nuclear crisis.

"Because...because...I talk about him 'cause he annoys me so much!" She frowned, turning even more red from her anger, and a little something else. "And I can't stand up to him, 'cause he's bigger and older then me!" She pouted. "Usagi-san, why does he pick on me so much?" Usagi, smiled and chuckled a little bit. She glanced past Mika to the corner where Kento was sitting, and caught him trying to sneak a look at Mika, a hint of admiration in his eyes as she sat there, talking comfortably at a table with two adults, and a hint of another emotion that Usagi knew all too well.

"Well, Mika, Kento's a boy," she said with a grin. When Mika looked at her, confused, Usagi continued. "When boys are a certain age, and they like a girl, they do what we old people here call, 'pulling pigtails'," Usagi was interrupted by Mika's growl of 'He does that too!' Usagi continued. "What that means, sweetheart, is that when little boys like little girls, they don't know how to let those little girls know how they feel. So, these little boys pay lots of attention to the little girls they like, but it's the wrong KIND of attention. They pull the girls' pigtails, tease them, and even," she pointed at Mika's now clean dress, "spill ice cream on them." She grinned at Mika's look of astonishment.

"You think he likes me?" Her eyes wide, and her face red with embarrassment. Usagi smiled and nodded.

"Just don't tell him you know. It'll hurt his pride, and that's the most important thing to little boys." Usagi winked, and Mika grinned, her shock and confusing lifting, leaving only a very happy little girl. Usagi picked her up off the table and set her down on the ground, giving her a kiss on the head and a pat on the butt as she swatted the girl away back to her friends, with Mika calling back her thanks and love to Usagi as she headed over to the corner where Kento was still sitting. Usagi grinned when she saw the little girl walk confidently up to Kento, and place a quick kiss right on his cheek, before returning to her friends, leaving Kento both confused and overjoyed. Usagi then turned back to her table to get back to studying and grab her books from Mamoru's side of the table, when she saw him looking at her with a mix of awe, admiration, and a little confusion.

"How on earth did you do that, Odango?" His question was soft, and generally confused. He had never seen her so assured and confident, and so mature with a situation. Usagi just smiled and shrugged.

"I've known the situation between Mika and Kento for a while. I babysit for both of them, actually, and I've had to hear about them from each other every time I'm over there. It's so cute, actually. He's so smitten with puppy love, and she's just the same, but she doesn't get how he's trying to show it. I just thought that it was about time she understood the ways of little boys." Mamoru grinned.

"So you know the ways of little boys?" Usagi laughed.

"Pretty much. Minako may be our group's 'love goddess' and matchmaker, but I know pretty much the same things as she does about relationships. I just prefer not to go around trying to get people together. The only problem is that I can help everyone else with their relationships, and tell when someone likes them, just I can never tell for myself," she shrugged. Mamoru was surprised.

"But, there are always tons of guys crawling about all over here who like you! How can you not tell?"

"I just can't. I've gotten so used to seeing the guys around me as friends that I can't tell when their feelings are anything other than friendship." She blushed. "Well, I can't say EVERY guy. There's one that I can see as more then a friend, but I can never tell with him, either. His feelings are too damn hard to read," she buried her face in her book again, trying to avoid his piercing gaze.

She liked someone? His Usagi? The girl that he had been in lo...like with for the past 4 years? He wanted to kill whomever it was that caused her to to like them, and keep her from liking him. If only...but then Mamoru just had to go and push the envelope.

"So is this guy really all that? Is he your dream guy?" He just had to know. Usagi glanced up at Mamoru, and she grew bold.

"Pretty much." Mamoru growled in his mind. He had to know more.

"So, what makes him so perfect? What kind of guy is your dream guy? Is he prince charming incarnate or something?" Usagi shrugged and smiled.

"More like a dark knight," she laughed. "Honestly, I don't need much in my dream guy, and the guy I like is much more then what I've dreamed about before. Before, all I thought I needed was a guy who loved me. A guy who could see past the ditzy, clumsy, stupid Usagi, and see that there was something inside that was worth loving, worth more then what people just see on the outside." She shrugged. "The guy that I like is the classic tall, dark, handsome type, and he's intelligent and athletic to boot. The only thing I need now is for him to try and see something worthwhile in me. Then, maybe, one day..." she sighed, "I don't even know what would happen, but I just wish it wasn't the situation we're in now." She looked back down at her book, trying to ignore the fact that she had just spilt her soul, the actual cold, hard truth, in the lap of Mamoru, her dream man. Mamoru's face simply showed shock.

"That's the deepest thing I've heard in a long time, Usagi," he said, and her head shot up at the use of her real name. His eyes were truthful, serious, and if she wasn't mistaken, tender. "I'm sure that he can see the wonderful things about you that everyone else does. I mean, you know me, how much of a jerk I am at times, and even though we fight and everything, I think of you as a friend, and I know how wonderful you are. If he can't see it, well then, he's not worth the ground you walk upon," he nodded his head firmly, as if to emphasize his point. Usagi blushed, shocked.

"Th..th...thank you Mamoru," not believing what had just come out of his mouth. If only he meant that the way she wanted him to. At least she was his friend now, and not just his enemy. That was a step in the right direction. Mamoru smiled.

"Just the truth, princess," he winked, and the breath was punched out of Usagi's lungs. Had any of the other patrons, or even Motoki, heard that, they probably would have fainted, hearing the new term of endearment. Usagi's eyes just remained wide. Mamoru just laughed.

"Come on, Odango. Don't look at me like that. It looks like you swallowed a frog or something."

All of a sudden, it felt to Usagi like the clouds had cleared, and she could finally see clearly. After never being able to recognize anything about men when it came to herself, Usagi finally realized what their 4 years of fighting really was to him. It was witty banter. It was friendly joshing. It was something that was never meant to hurt her, but meant to cheer her up and distract her from her problems. It was...it was...

It was 5 year old flirting from an 20 year old man.

Usagi's face lit up in the most beautiful smile that Mamoru had ever seen grace her face. Her eyes sparkled with a secret knowledge that lit up her face with a light that he had never seen, and he wished to any of the possible Gods above that he would be able to see it again. He grinned back, and went back to his book. When Usagi left the table to go home, he waved goodbye, sad to see her and her radiant smile go, but he took solace in the fact that tomorrow was Sunday, and he was sure to have another full day with her, if she came to the arcade, which she certainly would. He packed his own things up and headed out not 10 minutes after she left.

You can imagine his surprise, then, when he rounded the corner outside the arcade, and was ambushed by Usagi. The last thing he could think of before he lost himself in her sugary sweet kiss was,

'Take that, dream guy.'


End file.
